Wintery activities & Houseplant care

It's been a hard winter here so far. Lots of snow, cold and rain that lead to flooding. I'm eagerly waiting for the sight of daffodils, Crocuses, and other early spring flowers to create color in this dreary landscape. 

Of course, through this winter, it's important to provide your houseplants a lot of plant care. I don't know about you, my houseplants tell me that they hate being inside and they hate the winter. 😄 Often it feels like I'm just keeping them in survival mode during the winter months. It's hard to get enough sunlight and humidity, so you have to improvise. 

For instance, you can imitate a jungle atmosphere for them in a well lit bathroom and create a steamy shower for them. Plants during this time don't necessarily need fertilize, but depending on the type of needa your plants have, they may need a particular nutrient. 🪴 Fertilize plants with a homemade mixture of food scraps that contain the particular nutrient that thr plant is deficient in. Right now, I have some plants that are looking quite sad! Sometimes a little bit of Epsom salt if the plant needs magnesium, or a little banana water if it needs potassium. 🍌 

The houseplants here, draceanas, have dead and dying leaves. So I fertilized them with a mixture I made of chopped up banana peels and water that soaked overnight. I'm hopeful that will snap them out of their funk.

Be sure to provide as much light during the day as possible for these plants during winter, even if they naturally grow in shady areas in the wild.

One of the lime trees bloomed, and I kept it fertilized and watered as well as kept the humidifier around the lime trees; but unfortunately, the blooms fell off and don't look like they're growing any fruits. I hand pollinated the Lime blooms as Limes are self pollinating, but that didn't seem to help either. I've never grown them before, so I didn't know that their flowers are thick, sappy and fragrant. 

Steam from Humidifier around lime trees

Other wintery activities to keep the wintery blues at bay is making Sauerkraut or kimchi. Cabbage is a winter crop, and fermenting cabbage is one of the most common way to preserve it in mant cultures. I like Sauerkraut but I LOVE Kimchi, a spicy version of Sauerkraut. I made several of kimchi that I'd fermenting well in the fridge. I recommend waiting 3 weeks before eating, buy of course of you're really craving it- it will be fine to est in 3 days. 

The kimchi making process is fun and long. Normally takes a whole day to do a couple of jars or a big ceramic pot. It is so worth making your own. It tastes great with green onion pancakes, ramen, and any korean  

Because many of us are going through the wintery blues right now, I'll show you my cactus that made sure to bloom this fall before it got even colder. It was a fantastic flush of fuscia colored petals. I wasn't able to show you all this Fall, so here are a couple of snapshots.

Also this winter, I perused the local flea market, and just so happen to stumble upon this propagated Philodendron waiting for a new home! Live plants aren't common at this flea market, so it was a treat to see some green outside of my own home.

The weather here is in another wave of snow and cold, but I hope it means it'd coming to an end and warm weather is near. In fact, before the flooding event here, we had a decent warm day, so after work I took my cats to the creek and we walked around to admire the creek and pick up rocks. Keep trying to push through and enjoy the days as you can. We will see the beautiful flowers soon!

Bat flying above along the creek

Take in the beauty of it all...that's all we can do.

July & August pretty things

This Summer came on quick and early for this region. We had 80 and 90 degree temperatures a month before we were supposed to in my area. Most gardeners here, and perhaps everywhere in the US are facing hot and dry weather. This summer, we have had to constantly water the gardens. 

Here is some photos I snapped of my grandparents flower garden.

This Summer, too, I have enjoyed some time hiking, rock climbing, mushroom hunting, attending a few concerts, and indulging in the little things, like a bouquet of roses🌹 ....

Ate pajeon and doboo at a Korean restaurant 

Corn smut from someone's corn field

This fungal phenomenon happens sometimes in Kentucky, it happens when the conditions are dry and hot

Old chicken of the woods mushrooms, too late to harvest...I found these a week too late.

Here, I climbed a local hiking destination and spelunking through the caves this summer a couple times for both places. 

Right after I went mushroom hunting, I unfortunately had a fall in a creek slipping on a rock. I rushed to the ER to get stitches. This was my first time ever getting stitches! 

Went to some concerts this summer and danced so much that I couldn't walk properly for days...

Done some faux gem mining for kids (haha) at the caves...

Earlier this summer, I went to the caves with my sister, and this second time I went with Ashley where we also scored some cool gems to put with our rock collection. 

This Summer came on quick, and so too thr cold will set in quick. I already feel the cold in this late August. I hope my apartment garden produces some cucumbers at least before it gets too cold! I'll keep you posted.